It's a work in progress...

Over the last month I've been attempting to transform this useless triangle of dirt in my front yard into something a little more presentable. Since I appreciate the pollination butterflies provide, but would rather have them laying eggs somewhere other than in my vegetable garden, I figured a little butterfly garden wouldn't go amiss. I bought a few butterfly plants, dug up some old pavers from the pile o' crap the former owners left behind the workshop (speaking of which, that place has been like a goldmine for me and my cheapskate, DIY mentality), weeded, mulched, et voila! The beginnings of a butterfly habitat. 

One thing I was sorely missing was a water source for these winged beauties, but at a ridiculous $40-$60 for some ugly concrete or plaster birdbath I wasn't in any big rush to go out and get one. (Enter the aforementioned cheapskate.) I figured there had to be a way to make one, but the idea just wasn't coming. Until today. 

Tada!! Presenting the 2 dollar bird/butterfly bath!

So I had this lamp that my brother gave me, but the shades were paper and they broke, then the electric bits stopped functioning, so it was slated for the dump. For some reason my husband pulled one of the lamp poles off the base and stuck it in my little pumpkin patch, and it hung out there uselessly until today. I checked it out, and thought--"Hey, I bet if this had some kind of bowl on it it would work!" So I went to Target, bought a cheap 2 dollar wide melamine bowl, drilled a hole in the middle, and screwed the lamp parts together. Pretty cool, eh? And it has the added bonus of being a) turquoise, a color I'm a sucker for, and b) kinda mod looking and not a big bulky concrete clamshell from Home Depot. Although if I'm honest it does pretty much look just like a lamp sitting in my garden. Oh well.

Anyway, it makes me happy. I realize my garden is sort of pathetic at this point, but I plan to pad it out with more plants and let it grow a little wild. Anything is better than that atrocious dirt triangle, and I'm not a huge fan of bushes, so...there you go.